Review Summary: No problems here, Houston.
The Devil Wears Prada’s second EP is similar to their first in that both are written as a narrative, and each track builds on that and has its own role in the story. Space takes the overall feeling of 2010’s Zombie, and combines it with the sound of the two LPs released in between, Dead Throne and 8:18.
The first track on the record, Planet A starts things off with a sample of dialogue between an astronaut, who is presumed to be Elizabeth, the ‘protagonist’ of the story, and a member of the crew of her space shuttle. This sets the tone for what lyrical themes the EP will explore, if it wasn’t already obvious enough. After this ends, an enormous guitar riff and synth combine to make an explosive, cinematic sound that suits the lyrics of the song very well. Every instrument comes together so beautifully and makes the song sound very well-made. In terms of vocals, it seems screamer Mike Hranica has improved since the band’s latest release, 8:18, and clean vocalist/guitarist Jeremy DePoyster comes in at just the right time to give the song a dark, eerie vibe.
The next song is Alien, which is probably the heaviest on the EP. The guitars on this one stand out a lot more, and they seem a lot grittier which definitely fits the overall theme of the song. Vocals are great once again, as displayed during the chorus when Jeremy’s singing is put prominently enough in the mix to combine well with Mike’s screaming. Moongod appears to slow everything down a little before breaking into an extravagant chorus, which is unfortunately the only ‘great’ part of this track. However, the synth is once again given a chance to shine amongst the chaos.
Celestial Mechanics serves as a ‘dividing wall’ of sorts, and overall this track is very similar to the beginning of Planet A, but as far as interludes go, this fits the record very well. Lead single Supernova follows soon after, starting off with a seemingly heavy-sounding riff which doesn’t progress into much except for being joined by a haunting synth, and then leading into the chorus almost immediately after, which is by far the catchiest on the record. That and the following breakdown are the only elements the song really has going for it, but it was definitely a good choice for the lead single.
Wrapping things up, Asteroid begins with a monstrous riff which is soon accompanied by killer vocals by Mike, who screams some of the most powerful lyrics of the band’s career, which seem to be getting better and better as the song progresses into more intense guitar work which soon drops off as Jeremy provides some stunning clean vocals, which come in at the seemingly perfect time before turning into a spoken word part done by Mike, which is something completely out of the blue for a Prada song, but he manages to pull it off so well. The song continues to evolve before abruptly coming to an end, which is somewhat unexpected after all the seemingly ‘progressive’ lyrics, themes and sounds happening, but after hearing it, it couldn’t have finished things off any better.
Overall, the Ohio metalcore act’s latest release serves as a good stepping stone for the band, building on ideas introduced in their previous few efforts and creating many more which will surely be explored on their upcoming work.
